people crept into the dining-saloon by ones and twos in a very subdued manner. there seemed a

general feeling that to sit down eagerly to food displayed an unfortunate heartlessness. it was with

an almost apologetic air that one passenger after another came and sat down at their tables. tim

allerton arrived some few minutes after his mother had taken her seat. he was looking in a

thoroughly bad temper.

"i wish we'd never come on this blasted trip," he growled.

mrs allerton shook her head sadly.

"oh, my dear, so do i. that beautiful girl! it all seems such a waste. to think that anyone could

shoot her in cold blood. it seems awful to me that anyone could do such a thing. and that other

poor child."

"jacqueline?"

"yes; my heart aches for her. she looks so dreadfully unhappy."

"teach her not to go round loosing off toy firearms," said tim unfeelingly as he helped himself to

butter.

"i expect she was badly brought up -"

"oh, for god's sake, mother, don't go all maternal about it."

"you're in a shocking bad temper, tim."

"yes, i am. who wouldn't be?"

"i don't see what there is to be cross about. it's just frightfully sad."

tim said crossly: "you're taking the romantic point of view! what you don't seem to realize is that

it's no joke being mixed up in a murder case."

mrs allerton looked a little startled.

"but surely -"

"that's just it. there's no 'but surely' about it. everyone on this damned boat is under suspicion -

you and i as well as the rest of them."

mrs allerton demurred. "technically we are, i suppose - but actually it's ridiculous!"

"there's nothing ridiculous where murder's concerned! you may sit there, darling, just exuding

virtue and conscious rectitude, but a lot of unpleasant policemen at shellвl or assuan won't take

you at your face value."

"perhaps the truth will be known before then."

"why should it be?"

"monsieur poirot may find out."

"that old mountebank? he won't find out anything. he's all talk and moustaches."

"well, tim," said mrs allerton, "i daresay everything you say is true, but, even if it is, we've got to

go through with it, so we might as well make up our minds to it and go through with it as

cheerfully as we can."

but her son showed no abatement of gloom.

"there's this blasted business of the pearls being missing, too."

"linnet's pearls?"

"yes. it seems somebody must have pinched 'em."

"i suppose that was the motive for the crime," said mrs allerton.

"why should it be? you're mixing up two perfectly different things."

"who told you that they were missing?"

"ferguson. he got it from his tough friend in the engine room, who got it from the maid."

"they were lovely pearls," declared mrs allerton.

poirot sat down at the table, bowing to mrs allerton.

"i am a little late," he said.

"i expect you have been busy," mrs allerton replied.

"yes, i have been much occupied."

he ordered a fresh bottle of wine from the waiter.

"we're very catholic in our tastes," said mrs allerton. "you drink wine always; tim drinks whisky

and soda, and i try all the different brands of mineral water in turn."

"tiens!" said poirot. he stared at her for a moment. he murmured to himself, "it is an idea, that..."

then, with an impatient shrug of his shoulders, he dismissed the sudden preoccupation that had

distracted him and began to chat lightly of other matters. "is mr doyle badly hurt?" asked mrs

allerton.

"yes, it is a fairly serious injury. dr bessner is anxious to reach assuan so that his leg can be x-

rayed and the bullet removed. but he hopes that there will be no permanent lameness."

"poor simon," said mrs allerton. "only yesterday he looked such a happy boy, with everything in

the world he wanted. and now his beautiful wife killed and he himself laid up and helpless. i do

hope -"

"what do you hope, madame?" asked poirot as mrs allerton paused.

"i hope he's not too angry with that poor child."

"with mademoiselle jacqueline? quite the contrary. he was full of anxiety on her behalf."

he turned to tim.

"you know, it is a pretty little problem of psychology, that. all the time that mademoiselle

jacqueline was following them from place to place, he was absolutely furious; but now, when she

has actually shot him, and wounded him dangerously - perhaps made him lame for life - all his

anger seems to have evaporated. can you understand that?"

"yes," said tim thoughtfully, "i think i can. the first thing made him feel a fool -"

poirot nodded. "you are right. it offended his male dignity."

"but now - if you look at it a certain way, it's she who's made a fool of herself. everyone's down

on her, and so -"

"he can be generously forgiving," finished mrs allerton. "what children men are!"

"a profoundly untrue statement that women always make," murmured tim.

poirot smiled. then he said to tim, "tell me, madame doyle's cousin, miss joanna southwood,

did she resemble madame doyle?"

"you've got it a little wrong, monsieur poirot. she was our cousin and linnet's friend."

"ah, pardon - i was confused. she is a young lady much in the news, that. i have been interested in

her for some time."

"why?" asked tim sharply.

poirot half rose to bow to jacqueline de bellefort, who had just come in and passed their table on

the way to her own. her cheeks were flushed and her eyes bright, and her breath came a little

unevenly. as he resumed his seat poirot seemed to have forgotten tim's question. he murmured

vaguely, "i wonder if all young ladies with valuable jewels were as careless as madame doyle

was?"

"it is true, then, that they were stolen?" asked mrs allerton.

"who told you so, madame?"

"ferguson said so," tim volunteered.

poirot nodded gravely.

"it is quite true."

"i suppose," said mrs allerton nervously, "that this will mean a lot of unpleasantness for all of us.

tim says it will."

tim seemed upset by this comment and poirot asked:

"ah, you have had previous experience, perhaps? you have been in a house where there was a

robbery?"

"never," said tim.

"oh, yes, darling, you were at the portarlingtons' that time - when that awful woman's diamonds

were stolen."

"you always get things hopelessly wrong, mother. i was there when it was discovered that the

diamonds she was wearing round her fat neck were only paste! the actual substitution was

probably done months earlier. as a matter of fact, a lot of people said she'd had it done herself!"

"joanna said so, i expect."

"joanna wasn't there."

"but she knew them quite well. and it's very like her to make that kind of suggestion."

"you're always down on joanna, mother."

poirot hastily changed the subject. he had it in mind to make a really big purchase at one of the

assuan shops. some very attractive purple and gold material at one of the indian merchants. there

would, of course, be the duty to pay, but-

"they tell me that they can - how do you say? - expedite it for me. and that the charges will not be

too high. how think you, will it arrive all right?"

mrs allerton said that many people, so she had heard, had had things sent straight to england from

the shops in question and that everything had arrived safely.

"bien. then i will do that. but the trouble one has, when one is abroad, if a parcel comes out from

england! have you had experience of that? have you had any parcels arrive since you have been

on your travels?"

"i don't think we have, have we, tim? you get books sometimes, but of course there is never any

trouble about them."

"ah, no, books are different."

dessert had been served. now, without any previous warning, colonel race stood up and made his

speech.

he touched on the circumstances of the crime and announced the theft of the pearls. a search of

the boat was about to be instituted, and he would be obliged if all the passengers would remain in

the saloon until this was completed. then, after that, if the passengers agreed, as he was sure they

would, they themselves would be kind enough to submit to a search. poirot slipped nimbly along

to his side. there was a little buzz and poirot reached race's side and murmured something in his

ear just as the latter was about to leave the dining-saloon.

race listened, nodded assent, and beckoned a steward. he said a few brief words to him; then,

together with poirot, he passed out onto the deck, closing the door behind him.

they stood for a minute or two by the rail. race lit a cigarette.

"not a bad idea of yours," he said. "we'll soon see if there's anything in it. i'll give 'em three

minutes."

the door of the dining-saloon opened and the same steward to whom they had spoken came out.

he saluted race and said: "quite right, sir. there's a lady who says it's urgent she should speak to

you at once without any delay."

"ah!" race's face showed his satisfaction. "who is it?"

"miss bowers, sir, the hospital nurse lady."

a slight shade of surprise showed on race's face. he said: "bring her to the smoking-room. don't

let anyone else leave."

"no, sir - the other steward will attend to that."

he went back into the dining-room. poirot and race went to the smoking-room.

"bowers, eh?" murmured race.

they had hardly got inside the smoking-room before the steward reappeared with miss bowers.

he ushered her in and left, shutting the door behind him.

"well, miss bowers?" colonel race looked at her inquiringly. "what's all this?" miss bowers

looked her usual composed, unhurried self. she displayed no particular emotion.

"you'll excuse me, colonel race," she said, "but under the circumstances i thought the best thing

to do would be to speak to you at once -" she opened her neat black handbag - "and to return you

these."

she took out a string of pearls and laid them on the table.